Right Hand Man
by NatalieGH
Summary: When Cap is injured during a run, Mike takes over as incident commander. But is the second-in-command okay with taking over while his best friend is sent to the hospital? DISCLAIMER: I don't own Emergency! or the boys, just borrowing them.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is a birthday fic for my good friend Ani-Maniac494. She provided the prompt for this story and I was hoping this was going to be nice little one shot, but it got so long, I turned into a two chapter story! So, I believe that is all I have to say and y'all should go message Ani-Maniac494 and say happy birthday cause she is just an awesome person.**

Beep… beep… beep… The sound of the heart monitor filled the otherwise deathly quiet hospital room that would keep Hank Stanley, my captain, for the next few days while he recovered from his fractured ribs and concussion. It's strange seeing the man who is practically my older brother lying motionless in the bed, I mean, it's usually John Gage who is a patient at Rampart General since he has the longest list of on-the-job injuries out of everyone at Station 51. Why did it have to be Cap who got hurt? Why did that driver have to be careless with his match? Why did I have to be the one left in charge? A million questions bolted through my head as I thought about the events leading up to this moment. 

It had been a relatively slow day at the station, so while Chet Kelly made his "famous" Irish stew for lunch, Captain Stanley was doing work in his office, John, his partner Roy Desoto, and Marco Lopez played poker, and I read the newspaper. I felt a small weight on my thigh and found the station's basset hound, Henry, had rest his head there; I pat his head, but before I could go back to reading, the tones sounded.

"Station 51, heart attack. 1677 Watson Drive. 1-6-7-7 Watson Drive. Time out 12:33."

The six of us dropped what we were doing and rushed to our respective vehicles. I climbed into the driver's seat of Engine 51 while Cap copied the address and passed it to Roy. The second he had climbed in, I followed the paramedic squad out of the bay, lights flashing and sirens screaming. I carefully maneuvered Big Red until we were ushered into a gas station by a small crowd.

"He's over here!" A woman cried to John and Roy before they had even gotten out of the squad.

"Mike, help John and Roy. Chet, Marco, help me get these people back." Cap ordered. I carried the biophone over to the man lying on the ground and set it up while the paramedics took the his vitals.

"Mike, get on the horn with Rampart." Roy said as he grabbed his blood pressure cuff from the drug box.

"Rampart, this is Squad 51."

"Go ahead 51," Almost immediately, the voice of Dixie McCall answered.

"Rampart, we have a male, approximately age fifty-five years old, possible heart attack. Victim is unconscious."

"51, what are the vitals?" It wasn't Dixie who spoke this time, but Doctor Brackett.

"Pulse is 98." John said.

"Blood pressure is 150/90," Roy added. "We better patch him in for an EKG."

As the paramedics patched in their patient, I relayed the vitals.

"Rampart, pulse is 98, blood pressure is 150/90. Stand by for EKG."

"10-4 51. Start an IV D5W, then administer five milligrams MS IV."

"10-4 Rampart. IV D5W followed by five milligrams MS IV." I heard the sirens of the approaching ambulance and looked up in time to see it pull into the station. Once they had the man stabilized, John, Roy, and the ambulance attendants loaded the man into the ambulance.

"John," I called the younger man as he shut the ambulance doors behind his partner. "Think that man is going to be alright?"

"As long as we don't have any issues on the way to the hospital, I think he has a chance."

"Hope he lives, he seems like a good guy." As John and I cleaned up the mess of drug wrappers and equipment, I noticed a gas truck pull into the station; I don't know why, but I felt my stomach twist into a knot. Something bad was going to happen. 

I stood on the sidewalk next to Big Red and kept my eye on the truck. Cap was speaking with the station's owner and the fact that he was closer to the truck than he was to the fire engine made me more concerned. John had already left to retrieve Roy from the hospital and Chet and Marco were talking about some movie they saw on television last night, but I tuned all that out; all I could hear was the sound of gas rushing through a hose into the ground, filling up the pumps.

My eyes drifted to the truck driver leaning against the cab if his truck; he looked barely forty, but the wrinkles and bags under his eyes aged him by at least ten years. However, it wasn't his looks that grabbed my attention, instead it was what he was doing- he had a cigarette in his mouth and a lit match in his hand. Before I could tell him not to smoke, he tossed the match onto the ground and into a small trail of gasoline that had leaked from the truck, flames quickly making their way to the truck.

Cap heard the gasoline ignite and called out, "Chet, Marco! Pull an inch-"

BOOM! The gasoline inside the truck ignited with a deafening explosion that knocked everyone to the ground. As I picked up myself up from the concrete, I saw Cap had been thrown forward and was lying unconscious on the ground, his turnout coat lightly smoking.

"Marco, pull an inch-and-a-half! Chet, help me move Cap!" I ordered the linemen.


	2. Chapter 2

This was bad; Cap was in no condition to lead the assault against the beast that was devouring the gas station, so that mean it was up to me to lead. Once Cap was a safe distance away and Chet and Marco were battling the inferno, I got a hold of dispatch from the engine.

"LA, Engine 51. We have a gas station fire at our location, 1677 Watson Drive, with one Code I. Respond at least two engines, a squad, and an ambulance." I didn't wait for a response before jumping back to Cap and gauges on the side of the engine. Chet and Marco were struggling against the fire, but they persisted. I heard groaning next to me and dropped to my knees as my brother started to wake up.

"Ugh, Mike? What happened?" he asked, attempting to sit up, but I held him down.

"A careless smoker happened, his truck blew and knocked you out for a bit." I explained. Cap tried sitting up again, but I kept holding him down. "Try not to move; we don't know how bad you're injured, but I'm willing to bet you've got a concussion, at least." I heard sirens approaching and looked up in time to see Squad 51 to arrive and pull their equipment out of the compartments.

"What happened?" Roy asked as he shined his penlight in Cap's eyes.

"The truck exploded and threw him down. He just woke up before you arrived after being out for about thirty minutes."

"Rampart, this is Squad 51." John called in.

I knew I needed to help Chet and Marco and keep an eye out for the other responding units, but I didn't want to leave my best friend.

"Mike, we can take care of Cap. You need to get back to the engine." Roy told me.

"He's right, Stoker. You're the captain now." Cap said, pain evident in his voice.

I gave his shoulder a squeeze and returned to my position. They were right, I'm in change and I couldn't hover over Cap like a worried relative.

Engine 36 and 8 arrived on scene a few minutes later, just as the ambulance carrying Cap had left for the hospital; it didn't take long to get the inferno under control, but cleaning up the mess took most of the afternoon; Chet and Marco found the truck driver's body next to his truck. He didn't make it to safety before the explosion.

I was putting the hoses back on Big Red when Captain Stone from Station 8 approached me.

"Stoker, I heard about what happened to Captain Stanley. Is he going to be okay?"

"Gage and Desoto were optimistic; they think he's got a few fractured ribs and a concussion. Kelly, Lopez, and I are heading over to the hospital after our shift is over."

"Tell him I wish him a speedy recovery, will you?" Stone clapped me on the shoulder and began walking away before pausing. "Also, Stoker?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"You did a good job today. You'd make an excellent captain someday."

"Thanks, Captain."

The sun had just started to set when Chet, Marco, and I finally made it back to the station, all of us anxious to hear about Cap's condition from John and Roy. But when I backed the engine into the bay, it wasn't John or Roy who greeted us, but instead it was Captain Hookraider and the rest of C-Shift.

"What are you all doing here?" Chet asked, confusion on his face.

"The three of you are off duty as of now," the captain informed us, "Gage and Desoto have already left for Rampart and I'm sure they're waiting for you three. Dismissed."

A scuffle of shoes caught my attention as Chet and Marco raced each other to the locker room. I thanked our relief before following my crewmates.

"Mike? Where are you in your head right now?" The sound of Cap's voice brought me back to the present.

"Huh? Cap, when did you wake up?"

"A few minutes ago. I've been trying to get your attention since; almost thought you fell asleep with your eyes open." he joked.

"What's going on up there?"

"I was thinking about what happened four days ago, what I could have done differently to keep you from getting hurt," I shook my head.

"Mike, you're not to blame. You weren't the one who dropped the match into the gasoline,"

"But I didn't tell the driver not to smoke,"

"Mike," Cap winced slightly as he ran a hand through his hair, "You might not have been able to stop the explosion, but you did keep it under control until more help came. You also got me away from the immediate danger; believe me when I say this, it could have been much worse."

A knock on the door drew both mine and Cap's attention towards Nurse Dixie McCall as she entered the room.

"Captain, you've got a visitor," she stepped aside to reveal Cap's wife, Emily.

"Hi, honey. How are you feeling?" She took a seat on the other side of the bed across from me.

"I'm getting better," Cap took his wife's hand and gave it a kiss.

"I'll give you two some time alone," I stood up and walked to the door, but stopped when Cap said my name.

"Mike, no matter what happens, just know that I could not have asked for a better right hand man."

I flashed a rare grin at my brother. "Thanks, Cap."


End file.
